


And yet it tastes good

by Isidar_Mithrim



Series: Marauders Era & Jily [15]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Drabble, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, One Shot, Post-First War with Voldemort, Second War with Voldemort, Short One Shot, inspired by a song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-10 10:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19501006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isidar_Mithrim/pseuds/Isidar_Mithrim
Summary: Victory’ll taste good, they’d promised.And yet, Remus can’t help thinking that war tasted better than Victory.{Freely inspired to the italian song ‘Generale’ by De Gregori}





	And yet it tastes good

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Eppure sa di buono](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/495850) by Isidar Mithrim. 



> Hello everybody! :D  
> I’m Isidar, I’m Italian and I’ve been thinking about translating some of my works since a long time, and here I am with my first attempt!  
> For some inexplicable reasons, I ended up choosing a quite style-wise tricky story, ‘cause it’s suppose to have a certain musicality and rhythm, and who knows if I actually managed to convey all that in English as well ^^’  
> I did chose the words very carefully, but I may have used them in inappropriate ways. Although, the various repetitions and alliteration were meant.  
> Any bit of advise will be absolutely welcomed, as any corrections (I tend to do quite dumb mistakes ^^’!)  
> And of course, I’d be delighted if you’d also choose to write what you thought of the story in general :)
> 
> If you'd like, you can find me on [Tumblr](https://isidar-mithrim.tumblr.com) ^^

**And yet it tastes good**

He’d believed it to be sweet as honey and fragrant as freshly backed bread.

He’d waited for it, sought it, built it.

 _Fight with us,_ they’d said. _It’ll be peace, and it’ll be wonderful._

And Remus fought, trusting that tender illusion – _‘cause how could peace_ not _be wonderful?_ – anticipating a Victory they promised would taste _good_.

It’s the last night of a bleak October when it finally comes, brought by a flash of green that was born Death and died Hope.

It’s a time for celebration and disregard of secrecy – _purple robes on the streets and owls in the daylight skies and showers of falling stars._

It’s a feast for everyone, _except for him._

Remus knows what those stars mean – _they’re tears from the sky shed to grieve them._

He knows five tears are for them, for five lifes destroyed by a war that was harsh and painful and murderous – _and yet, it tasted better than Victory._

Only the silence remains to fill his solitary days – _the silence and the crunch of withered leaves crumpled under his feet._

It’s a day like any other when the autumnal soil is covered by the winter candor – _and his Christmas is sore loneliness and snow crunched under his paws._

It’s the Eve when he burns the mushrooms found behind the hill – _and yet, they taste better than Victory._

*

It’s an early morning at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Remus'd wanted to Apparate in Hogsmeade – _then he recalled the savor of that train, which is steam and voices and_ home _, as his destination._

He gets on the scarlet locomotive and it’s like being a kid again – _he’s eleven, he’s a werewolf and he still can’t believe he’s_ really _going to Hogwarts._

He walks down the train while the sorrow of the memories blends with the joy of the return – _he sits in their compartment, the furthest from the prefect carriage, ‘cause at twelve you don’t think you’d become one._

It tastes good, that train. _It tastes of chocolate and Harry and_ home.

*

The foe is back, is strong, is ruthless and Remus begins to wonder about the taste of Victory – _what if it’s indeed better than the savor of the war?_

And yet, it’s so good to feel valued and praised, it’s so sweet to be part of _something_ yet again.

Remus pretended for too long he’s unworthy to be loved – _now he can’t avert those gentle hands willing to tend his wounds, he can’t refuse those soft lips eager to treasure his skin._

He denied for too long to be willing to love _– but when every time could be the last, how can you find the strength to say no?_

After all, that’s the flair of war – _it forces men to seize each fleeting moment, fearing they won’t see tomorrow._

*

Remus knows mothers don’t like war – _fifty years and seven children and she only has a disguised ghoul upon which mourning her affection._

He knows that’s another flair of war – _it makes the will to make a reason to withstand._

He knows his child’ll be a son of the war – _as Harry and Ron and George, even if that was another war, even if now they’re the soldiers, rather than the children._

He knows one thing’d be enough to make Victory taste good – _for his son to see the end of the war he’s son of._

**Author's Note:**

> Well… I hope I didn’t make a mess :)
> 
> I really admire authors that don’t feel the need to leave notes, but unfortunately I’m not one of them. It’s actually not rare that my notes are longer than the story itself :P [no kidding – who knows me as a reader can easily imagine that, I’ll bet]
> 
> So, few notes… don’t feel obliged to read them all! ^^’  
> \- I always wondered why Remus was on the Hogwarts Express; the easiest guess would probably be ‘to check the students/Harry in case Black showed up’, but Harry happened in his compartment by chance, and even if Remus probably didn’t sleep all the time, he didn’t exactly act as a security guard either. So, I went for a more emotional explanation. Feel free to express your thoughts on the matter! I’m always glad to chat about head canons ^^  
> \- When Remus starts wondering if the war taste worst than Victory, it’s mostly because of Sirius death.  
> \- Beside Harry and Ron, I mentioned George as a Weasley representative. I picked him because he was with Remus when he lost his ear. 
> 
> And now, some English-related doubts. There were some sentence/expression I wrote in different ways and in some case I’m still wondering if I picked the best version ^^ Happy to know your opinion, if you have time to share! ☺ [First version is the posted one, the second is the alternative]  
> \- It’ll be peace, and it’ll be wonderful / Pace will come and it’ll be wonderful.  
> \- she only has a disguised ghoul upon which mourning her affection. / she only has a disguised ghoul to mourn her affection upon. – I also wondered if using ‘on’ instead of ‘upon’ (for ‘musicality’ reasons).  
> \- it makes the will to make a reason to withstand. → here I struggle to find a synonym of ‘fight’ that worked smoothly with ‘make’ (in Italian I had ‘creare’ and ‘lottare’, which rhymes). If you have better suggestions I’m all ears!  
> \- even if now they’re the soldiers, rather than the children. / even if now they’re soldiers, rather than children  
> \- a son of the war/son of the war/a war’s son


End file.
